Paul Myers (well-known to many on the Net as the writer/editor of "TalkBiz News" at www.TalkBiz.com) has a special fondness for creating joint ventures that sizzle with viral - and win-win-etc. - potential...

Paul is, to the Internet community, most noted for his e-zine writing (TalkBiz News has been big news since 1997)... though he writes everything from lullabies to high-priced (because high-value) sales copy.  But he thinks of himself as a writer and a creative problem solver - generating resourceful solutions to people's needs.  Here, we focus on a joint venture he's undertaken that's a marriage of the two... and a great viral traffic promotional campaign!

It began with a phone call to him from friend and business associate Audri Lanford, of WZ.com [please note that WZ closed down since this writing - but ideas never die!].  Audri wanted Paul to brainstorm up a "general interest" project that would appeal to what Paul calls "a broad niche" - something of specific interest to a large group of people.  It should not be internet marketing- or business-related; and it should be really valuable - and definitely fun.  It shouldn't take a big cash outlay.  And, of course, it should have income potential (both for sources of profit and high conversion rates on sales) - for both of them (and generate traffic for the WZ site).

This is the kind of challenge that Paul loves!  "I really have way too many ideas to put them all into action - but I got to work and called her back the next day."

Paul - single and recently moved to a new city - had been thinking that it might be time for him to start going out, get to know some new people...  WZ had the reprint rights for some dating-related books by Dr. Paul Hartunian...  The idea of an entertaining book on dating came together. ...And what could be a more powerful motivator than romance?

He and Audri worked out the details of Paul's idea.  The basics were:  a free e-book of fun and romantic date ideas, a free e-zine of further fun dating ideas, back-end sales of the Hartunian dating books, and affiliate marketers who could get a rebranded version of the e-book to give away. ...Put together, a very workable skeleton on which to hang a viral traffic generating system.

Paul was to write the book, and handle the e-zine... but anything ongoing really needed a woman's perspective, too.  So Paul brought his best friend, neighbor, and frequent business collaborator, Nancy, into the project.  Paul and WZ (Audri and her husband, Jim) were to split any profits from the project 50/50. ...Paul and Nancy now would split his share.

...That makes four minds serendipitously in sync.  "We work just about perfectly together," Paul says.  "The four of us as a team are eight times as likely to succeed as any one of us is alone."

And with all this brainstorming power, the concept just keeps getting more and more vigorous as the project develops.  Here's a run-down of the elements - "to date", anyway! (wheels within wheels)...

• Paul wrote the book - 10 Great Dating Ideas... For Valentine's Day and Beyond.  These are "complete" creative, romantic date scenarios (tested, too!) - a very nice little book, attractively put together.  "Light and fluffy" and fun, definitely - and well worth a read, for most people, I would venture...  Nothing should preclude "old, established" couples from going on romantic dates!
      

• For those wishing to promote it, WZ hosts a co-branded and hyperlinked webpage and rebrands the first page of the e-book with a hyperlinked "A Gift from [Name or URL]".  "Super-affiliates" - people with access to lots and lots of possible downloaders - get a higher commission.  (I first learned of it via Allan Gardyne's AssociatePrograms.com newsletter - subscribed to by almost 17,000 people already hep to the potentials of affiliate programs...)
    

• The co-branded webpage is set up with an affiliate link.  When someone signs up for the free newsletter, they can download the e-book...  And then they'll see an advertisement for the Hartunian dating-related books (which are on a different tack from date ideas - they tell how to meet the person in the first place, so they're complementary).  Plus, the potential is there for affiliate commissions to be made from sales of other WZ products (either current or future) as well.
    

• There's also a pop-up screen at the WZ.com website for WZ's list of e-zines (written by the website's "Wz-ards" - those who shepherd the various content sections of the site).
    

• (Actually, there are two websites... one general one, and one where people who click on an affiliate link will land.)
    

• Nancy and Paul both write the e-zine - which continues in the spirit of the book (light/clean/fun), with further dating tips.
    

• And though I did say the e-zine...  There will soon be a second one.  A (modestly) fee-based subscription will get people more creative complete date ideas, akin to those in the e-book, every month.
    

• For both e-zines, subscribers will be rewarded for contributing their own dating ideas.  The best ideas for each issue (one from a man, one from a woman) will be rewarded with incentives like free personals ads or subscriptions (or extensions thereof) to the fee-based e-zine.  (Or whatever else comes to fertile minds!) ...This is why Paul says, "This is even a JV between us and the subscribers."
    

• Meanwhile, there's that great looming potential for back-end sales via the e-zines.  The group is thinking about trying to capitalize particularly on residual affiliate program commissions (while truly serving their subscribers, of course).
    

• Probably you were thinking, as I did, about how perfect a fit this e-book would be for dating/personals sites...  Of course, the JV team thought of that too!  They'll be approaching each such service differently.  For instance, on one large dating site, a "cyber-dating guide" is offered...  WZ will offer this site a co-branded e-book that includes a reference to this guide.  (Which means that the author of the book has an incentive to talk the site managers into participating in this promotion! - plus, the site will no doubt also benefit through further affiliate sales from their Amazon.com book link.)  If WZ becomes a "super-affiliate" for the dating service, and the dating service becomes a "super-affiliate" for WZ...  That's not only neat - that's potentially very lucrative.  (And then there are the other dating services!)
    

• Plus, there are the offline promotional routes - press releases (you know the value of free product announcements?), articles in magazines, etc.  (Paul is averse to being "Oprah-ized" - but really, the possibilities for free media promotion are probably limited only by such personal considerations... where fun free stuff is cool, but romance is the real draw!) 

Since this is a list of points to learn from, I probably ought to mention another latent benefit to Paul - an increase in name recognition, as the author of the e-book. ...Maybe it's kinda too bad that he considers it irrelevant for him, since he has no desire to be known as a dating guru!  (Still, the word gets farther around, too, that Paul Myers can write - and promote... probably whatever he wants.)

This viral campaign may have been launched "for Valentine's Day"... but it's definitely (or should I say, indefinitely?) extending on throughout the year(s).  Want to know what size of subscription base is anticipated? - a million! 

And those in the know feel that's perfectly doable.  Paul testifies that "it's not hard to get a million subscribers... if you do it right."  Doing it virally makes it happen more quickly - and far more cheaply.  "We just have to experiment until we find the mix of elements that really makes it take off...  You have to get the motivation high enough." - through your offerings, and through your ad copy.

Judging from the great response to the initial e-book promotion (only one of the major "viral systems" set to build momentum), Paul is delighted with the project and its promise.  "I won't do business unless both sides - everybody - wins," he maintains.  He's made sure that the joint venture is set up so that the major players will win... as will others on the periphery.  And it looks like his good planning will ensure that the JV partners will win big.

Win-win is good...  When everybody involved wins - and lots of people can get involved - that's even better!  (Viral marketing = Win to infinity?)
  

• Two (or more) minds can be better than one!

• Think in terms of seeking joint venture partners amongst those people you already work with exceptionally well. 

• A "broad niche" might be right in front of you (things that affect a lot of people are often harder to see than things that affect only a narrow target group). ...Then all you have to do is figure out how to direct what you have to the widespread group.

• "Fun" and "free" still have drawing power... if the product is unique.  (And then, strategize about the back end.)

• Coming up with a simple successful promotion is good... but don't stop there.  How many layers can you add in to work synergistically with each other?  (Can you back-end the back end?)

• Viral marketing strategies can boost promotional power dramatically... and can save a lot of money. ...Think about how can you turn a "static" promotion into a viral campaign (preface it with something intriguing?).

• Affiliates are viral (and they're actually joint venture partners, too)...  Can you add an affiliate marketing component to your promotion?  (If you're not familiar with affiliate marketing, see "The Affiliate Marketing Primer" at www.AffiliatePrimer.com.)

• A joint venture should be flexible to be of greatest benefit...  Differentiating your promotional concepts/tools to best fit the characteristics of each of the players could affect the return substantially.

• Perhaps the biggest test of a great promotion is:  how motivated are they to do what I want?

• The more "wins" you can add to "win-win" in a joint venture, the better!
       

For those serious about JV marketing...
  

    

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